Customized MP3 Players

Some people call it “Retro”, some call it custom, and most people just call it cool. There is groups out there who have repurposed their old Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) controllers. Instead of being a video game controller, the NES controller is being modified into an MP3 player. And since simple MP3 players have become so cheap to buy, the modification is seen as a cheap project. I do not know all of the technical details of the project, but essentially you get an old NES controller and open it up to remove the original circuit board. You also open up the MP3 player and remove its circuit from the casing. And somewhere in there, you attach the MP3 circuit board into the controller casing and wire the buttons to control the MP3 player.

This video doesn’t go into to much detail, and why would they? They want to keep the secrets to themselves and maybe sell some modded NES controllers to people who want them. But this may be only partially true, as there are other instruction web sites that have the plans to these.

Anyways there are other MP3 player mods out there, but this one seems to be one of the more popular.

Enjoy the video:

Extremely Loud Car Stereo Systems

When you think of after market car stereos, you think someone just wants some better speakers and head units for listening to music and using other devices. But some people go beyond just listening to music. Some people go all out and want to make as loud of a stereo system as they can. They get giant and/or multiple speakers, subwoofers, a bunch of amps, and hook it all together to literally make their car vibrate. The videos are crazy, as you literally see the roof of the car thump up and down as the windows shake. Who knows if this is destroying the structural integrity of the vehicle?  Though I assume the cars that are on this extreme level of customization are mostly just show cars now, as they carry a massive amount of weight with all of the added equipment and huge collections of batteries powering it all.

The video we have today is one such case. The owner of this car has installed a 17000 Watt car stereo. As he demonstrates its power, we see the insides of his car vibrate and jump with the beat. I couldn’t imagine what this was doing to his ear drums, let alone anybody’s in the immediate vicinity. As is the intention, this is an insane level of bass. It pretty much would make driving in this car intolerable unless the volume was on an absolute low.

Are fancy light up displays on stereos still popular?

In the late eighties and throughout the nineties, the fancier stereos had elaborate light up displays. These included bar graphs that changed as you adjusted the volume, speaker balance, base, and treble. Today, you don’t see as many of the large home stereos. Everyone has moved onto the computer and MP3 devices for their music. You can still get CD’s, but that market is getting weaker and weaker.

The car stereos I used to see in the stores also implemented the fancy colorful light up displays. Some had flashing designs that went along as the music played. Much like what you see on when playing music on Window Media Player. Though lately, it seems that the market has gone back to the simpler designs. My sister got a new car last year, and the stereo is just a basic LCD display. Just shows numbers and text. I guess now if you want something fancy, you need to go for the in-dash navigation systems. These can be a GPS, DVD player, and a car stereo. But even these are losing popularity as the proliferation of GPS apps on cell phones increases.

So is it simply just a change caused by new technology, economic consumer shifts, or economic stereo company shifts. It is probably a mix of the three. People are cutting back on some novelties like fancy stereo equipment and expensive car units. Maybe people are realizing that if something works the way it is supposed to, it is good enough.

I will miss all of those flashing lights. I know they are still out there, just not in the number that they once were. You still see the big CD stereos here are there, but I, like most people, don’t have the space for it.

Podcasts: An Overwhelming Amount of Content

The radio can get boring after awhile, the music stations just cycle through the same songs everyday. There was always the highlight of a few talk radio shows, usually on the AM frequencies. But even those may get dull. With the rise of MP3s and the iPod came podcasting. People put out their shows for live streaming or as a downloadable file. Many comedians have moved into this field, as well as many others.

There is likely a podcast for whatever topic you are interested it in. Be it technology, cars, sports, comedy, games, politics, religion, new, health and so on. As the Apple iTunes web pages lists, there are over 150,000 podcast available. What is one to do? There are not enough hours in the day. Even just looking through them all to find a few that you like is a daunting task. I only listen to a couple of shows at the moment, and even keeping up with just two can get overwhelming at times. Downloading them for later listening is my preferred method, but the episodes come up faster than I get to listen to all of them.

It is great that virtually anyone can put out a podcast. Even former radio personalities have moved on to podcasting after the ends of their terrestrial radio shows. Such a great way for them to still reach out to their fans.

Are Car Stereo’s Doomed To Fall To Our New Everything Devices?

In the past you had your radio, your cell phone, your GPS, and many other individual devices. But as all of these multi-capable machines are being released to the public, which is the next doomed device? We have already seen how landline telephones have lost a lot of their foothold to cellular phones. We saw how MP3 players took a huge cut of the Compact Disc market. Now we even see new devices that are already looking to make the products of just a few years ago obsolete. With the rise of the iPhones, smart phones, and other such devices, the usefulness of having a bunch of different items is disappearing.

Around Christmas time, there were reports of the GPS market falling down because of the GPS mapping programs available on Cell phones. Some of these phones also double as MP3 players, which cut into the standalone MP3 player market. Many MP3 players also come with radio tuners, and many people play their MP3 players in their cars. So if their device already comes with a radio tuner, will they need a standalone radio in their car? True, not everyone has all of these devices, but it is getting to that point. We have seen some pretty fancy head units for your cars that integrate with your other tech devices, but how far away are we from just having one device that does everything? Everybody will just have one box that is a phone, radio, MP3 player, GPS, etc. Are the technology companies dooming their industry?

Since Cars Do Not Come With Bumpers, Do We Still Need Bumper Stickers?

Bumpers on cars are not what they used to be. In most cases the front and back of the car is just another section of the molding. Once upon a time, bumpers were good solid pieces of steel that were attached to the rear and front ends of the vehicle. If they got damaged, you could get the dents flattened out at a body shop, or replaced if it was really in bad shape. On today’s cars, everything on the bumper is just plastic or fiberglass, with the exception of trucks usually. If something gets banged up in an accident or fender bender, the whole piece needs to be replaced. This is good for the parts companies, but may cost you more in the long run.

People also used to plaster their bumpers with bumper stickers. Whether they are for the places they have visited on vacation or whom they are supporting in the upcoming election. It seems bumper stickers went out of style, if they ever were really in style. It is assumed that most people see them as tacky. And with old bumpers, you could scrape off the sticker if you didn’t want it on there anymore. With today’s bumpers, you would probably ruin the paint by scraping off the sticker. You can still find many websites that sell bumper stickers, usually with funny slogans and political commentary.

What Is The Deal With Putting Fancy Rims on Clunkers?

Throughout my travels on the road, I see a variety of other cars. Most cars are normal enough, but some cars bring questions to my mind. The main thought that comes in my mind is why? Why would somebody put fancy expensive rims on a piece of junk car? The rims alone are probably worth more than the car itself. On my latest encounter, an older brown sedan passed me by. It looked to be from the nineteen eighties. The car had numerous dents in the body and on the bumper, missing patches of paint, and other various dings and bumps. But when you look at the tires, you see some shiny golden rims. Does this person think that this makes up for the condition of the rest of the car? Maybe they were some inexpensive rims, but they did not look it. With the money spent on rims, the owner could have gotten a little bodywork and maybe a paint job. The appearance of the car just didn’t seem to match up.

Is this just a fad I have not heard about? I have seen other cars that fall into similar descriptions, all I have to say is that I do not get it. Leave me some comments here, I wouldn’t mind some insight on the subject.

Will High Definition Blu Ray Picture Matter In Your Car

Already available in Japan, Blu Ray players have been introduced into the portable video market. In the further attempt by film companies to outmode DVDs because their security flaws are being exploited. But beyond marketing, what is really the point? Most DVD players in cars are made for little seven inch screens or similar. The whole point of high definition video was to have a greater clarity of picture on a big television screen. How much extra detail and resolution will you be able to notice on a tiny monitor? Most in car DVD player setups are in place to pacify the driver’s children and chances are they will not care what format their movie is in. What they will care about is the horrendous loading times that the Blu Ray format is still known for. High definition content is bound to slow up any device it is on, so you know when they eventually get the HD GPS systems out, imagine how slow they could be. But that has not happened yet.

The U.S. is still gradually adopting Blu ray, so there is probably not much of a market for it in your vehicles. The main appeal is for those who have to have the newest technology as it becomes available. So we shall have to wait and see how Blu Ray players for our cars fair when they reach the states.

What Happened To Car Ashtrays?

In the past cars came with multiple ashtrays, but you are lucky to get one ashtray in the new cars of today. Cars don’t even come with cigarette lighters anymore. Yes, society has turned against smoking, but what if you do smoke and need these items. The smoking accessory market has gone to the after market. If your car doesn’t come with an ashtray, you have to buy a portable one that fits in the cup holder or some other area of the car. If you want a lighter, you have to buy one at the dealer or an auto supply shop.

And another thought is that this can lead to more littering and potential roadside fires. Lets face it; much of the population is lazy with their refuse. If they don’t have a place to put it, they will throw it away wherever. Without an ashtray, smoking drivers will tend to fling their cigarette buts out the window. This will add more litter to the roadside and under the right circumstances, potentially start a fire. Though that is a worst-case scenario.

Car designers go with the market trends, and tailoring vehicles to smokers is no longer the social norm. Smokers have been made out to look like the enemy, especially here in California. So an unfair assessment, but it is what has been going on for some time now.

DVD Players In Cars

I have mixed feelings about seeing DVD players inside of cars. I’m sure everyone has seen the glow of monitor screens in passing cars as you drive along the freeway. There is no problem if the monitor is only on the back of the seats or up in the ceiling, as long as the driver cannot see it. But every now and then, you see that car where there is also a monitor up in the front half of the car showing a movie. Now that is even worse than a driver being on their cell phone, eating, or doing their make-up. The driver should have no visual distractions but the road ahead of them.

There are many reasons that you or someone you know may have a DVD player in their car. It came with the car, they want to show off their money, or they just want to pacify the kids on road trips. That is all well and good, but again you don’t need a screen showing a movie in the front of the car. Many of the pre-installed screens are for GPS navigation, though some offer DVD playback. I just want what all of the other drivers not watching movies want you do. Be responsible and watch the road, not the movie.